A Little Life
“Wasn’t friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely?”
Synopsis: The story of four suite mates from a small college in Cambridge (wink wink) who move to New York after graduation. Their stories intertwine through adulthood, as friendships do. The bulk of the novel centers on Jude as he attempts to move past a childhood of abuse.
Nicholette’s Review: I don’t relish giving bad reviews, but this novel made me about as angry at a book as I’ve ever been. This book was brutal, misery porn. Every horrible thing you can imagine—sexual abuse, child abuse, rape, addiction, suicide, violence, abduction, devastating trust violations and more. It is purportedly a novel about friendship, but actually a novel about enablers with no hope or redemption in sight. The characters are all complete cliches. Each of the four roommates somehow miraculously becomes “the best” at whatever they do (actor, architect, artist and attorney). And the names!!! Willem (that is correct, Willem, not William), Jude, Phaedra…. apparently no one named Bob or Sue lives in NYC. And the never-ending supply of pedophiles and child abusers strained belief. OK, maybe the world truly is like that, but from Catholic clergy, Dickensian orphanage counselors, homicidal psychiatrist, long haul truckers, culminating in a sadistic violent psychopath, it seemed there was no end. I could go on, and this book certainly did, for more than 720 pages. It won many awards and was highly acclaimed, but for me, I just didn’t get it. Rating 1/5
Corey’s Review: Wow….well this will be a definite pass for me based on a few things. Most importantly, the fact that it was 700+pages of pure misery. I think we have enough of that right now. Maybe I will revisit in a year. I try and read highly rated books that win awards, just not sure this is the time.
Menu: I needed to balance this miserable book with something to provide some comfort. So what else could it be other than grilled cheese and tomato soup? Homemade tomato soup beats anything out of a can, and its not hard at all!
Rating 5/5.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cup chopped red onions
2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 28 oz cans tomatoes, coarsely chopped, or 4 pounds fresh if they are good tomatoes!
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil
3 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
3/4-1 cup heavy cream
Directions:
1) Heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Sauce the onion and carrots about 10 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt and pepper and stir well.
2) Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 30-40 minutes.
3) Blend until smooth—another great use for the immersion blender! Or use a blender if that’s what you have, but be careful as hot liquids can be tricky in the blender.
4) Add cream, and serve.
5) Garnish with julienned basil leaves or croutons if desired.
